Though now available only through AT&T, Apple will launch the unlocked/any operator version of iPhone (leave hackers aside) sooner or later. Apart from the first impression that everyone perceived from the demonstration videos that focus on what iPhone can do better than the other smart phones in the market, iPhone doesn’t seem to worth the high price tag attached to it. The multi touch screen that can sense a ‘pinch’ to zoom in/out, the proximity sensor that switches off the display when the phone is placed close to the face to save battery and the accelerometer for measuring acceleration can be considered as innovations if you want. But innovations that do not provide a useful functionality cannot be counted against the spending of the hard earned money. The demonstrations of iPhone cleverly hides the part that it lacks some of the most common features that are available on phones which costs just 10% of an iPhone. iPhone doesn’t support third party applications and that means the phone cannot be customized and will only support the features that is built into the phone by the manufacturer. Considering the fact that the best applications available on Symbian or Windows Mobile operating systems were created by third party, it should be treated as a major disadvantage of iPhones. The web browser of iPhone doesn’t support Java or Flash and it won’t allow Opera Mobile or Opera Mini to be installed on it. What more, the battery of iPhone is built in and not detachable and that means you will have to take it to the manufacturer when the battery life span reaches an end. In my personal opinion, I would like to wait for a Symbian or Windows Mobile phone with a multi touch screen and proximity sensor, rather than throwing away money on some ‘experimental’ release of Apple.

Please post your opinion on buying an iPhone.

Is the iPhone anything special when you have a good look at it. The features in it are cool, but have nearly all been created before. To me it just seems that it is another apple product which is getting people all wet for no reason. It has an MP3 player (wow, what phone doesn't), it has a 2MP Camera (wow, excitement plus), Google earth (I saw the launch, but think a GPS is a much better idea) yet is still lacking standard features such as 3G which you think should be standard in a "State of the art Phone".

yet is still lacking standard features such as 3G

who cares about 3G when its only available in certain areas anyway.

however, I agree that its very over-rated...
though they will still sell many... people will have the mentality that 'it will replace my ipod' ... not realising that there are so many other phones already out that can do that.

the guys and girls at apple's marketing section need a good pat on the back

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Prasanna Vignesh
MCPD | Web Developer

i reacon its a flop... if you see the Iphone Vs N95 ads you might start to agree

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Raja. Myblog

It is extremely over-hyped.

Although it does work - heaps of my friends have said to me 'man have you seen the iphone, i'm buying one as soon as it's out'

But yeah, I wouldn't replace my n73 with it even if i got one for free(i'd ebay it)
An n95 would just be an even better reason to not get one.

THe crap camera and lack of 3g cripples it, and imagine how many cracked screens there will be - people with PDAs are often businessmen who are careful, people who buy iphone will be young guys who can't even keep a standard phone screen from cracking...

All that said I'll probably buy one and just use it for a month to look cool then I'll ebay it lol

Personally, the iphone is a waste of time. As previously said by many, it is lacking a lot of features. The touchscreen interface may appeal to many, though they will find it to be quite dificult and frustrating at times.

Don't waste your money on it, there are many other phones better than the silly iphone.

(mind you, you'll have to get it on a 24 month contract, can't buy it outright, and it will probably only work with one specific carrier)

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A.Rajesh Khanna

mobile-review (excellent site) posted a list of 11 things the iphone can't do.
i'm pasting it here as a good reminder why you shouldn't get caught up in the hype

11 functions missing in the iPhone:

Cut/Copy/Paste option
Stereo Bluetooth (A2DP)
MP3 ringtones
Adobe Flash not supported in Safari browser
Video capture
MMS-messaging
No removable battery
No edit of Word and Excel files – you can only view them
Direct iTunes access
Instant messaging
Games

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Prasanna Vignesh
MCPD | Web Developer

From what i've seen, the iphone has some brilliant new design features that will make their way into other phones in the future...

Whether or not you like the iphone, or will ever get one, it will make an evolutionary change to phone interfaces...

This could be true except every new thing in this phone has been Patented. I cant see it changing mobiles a great deal. Instead there will just be a whole bunch of people out there carrying on saying "My apple phone is so much easier to use then your nokia" like apple users carry on about microsoft. I heared a great quote once. "One thing PC users can do that Apple users can't? Shut the hell up". The Iphone reminds me of a drawing that a six year old draws. Everyone says how good it is but at the end of the day it is just junk and nothing special.

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H2O

Without us, no one can survive..

I won't say it's worth the hype, it's rather over hyped. however there's no doubt that its interface is a brilliant design.

yeah, for the price (which is a complete rip-off) i would prefer a N95 with an 8GB flash drive

I already thought it was crap but I didn't know it was missing such crucial features as games and mp3 ringtones which are standard in ANY phone nowadays.

And for such a hyped music phone, how could they not add A2DP? and with wifi, as if they don't have instant messaging....how can apple be that stupid?

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J Suresh Kumar
Google Hacks

sure phones are becoming very um useful at doing difference
but a phone is a phone

i use it for SMS and calling people.

sometimes the game and camera

i know my phone can browse the internet n all that other stuff too but yeah who cares.

You all need to remember you are not the market for the iPhone. You're the experts who know how to operate any phone and get the most out of it. What you are saying is like saying `why buy a mac when I can build my own pc for $500'. :-)

11 functions missing in the iPhone: .... MMS-messaging

So you cannot take a photo with the built in camera and SMS it to someone? You have to be kidding!!

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G.A.P

I read somewhere that if you are using the browser to surf the web, say to use Google Maps etc, and a call comes in, there is not enough bandwidth to allow the call to go through, so instead, the person trying to call you gets your voicemail instead, "what tha!!!!??" Is this in fact true?

To me that is the biggest dud factor for the device right there. Imagine if you were a tradesperson or some other small businessperson, and all your calls were going to voicemail because you were looking up an address on the browser. That is not very well thought out if true.

Half of those limitations (listed) are software related. The question for me is whether Apple will be upgrading the phone to enable/add features over time(?) I don't see this happening with other phone software makers MS, Nokia..

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Prasanna Vignesh
MCPD | Web Developer

iphone cant access itunes directly... only through pc

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Raja. Myblog

It is a very pretty phone. Photo's are the best you will find on a smart phone. Listening to music or watching video's is great too!
The phone however is so, so (their are much better cell phones out there).
The Internet connection speed of ATT is poor, horrible, slower than dial-up.
This smart phone is designed for someone with a need to get their email, get on-line, and basically run a business.
If that describes your life and what you will use it for then go for it.
If you just want to listen or watch media just get or keep your iPod.
I have found very few people want to read Internet pages over a small screen. Same goes for email. While it sounds like a great idea in reality you possibly may never use the Internet or receive truncated emails on your phone.
The bottom-line is this probably is something you will not use as much as you think. For that reason I say you are wasting your money.
Also, you can't replace the battery or add programs for this first generation iPhone. If nothing else, wait for the second generation or become a beta tester for Apple by buying one.
If Verizon or Sprint were involved with their EV-DO high speed Internet speed I may have a different opinion again if you have the need for receiving truncated (a portion of your email message) email and reading web-sites on a 2 inch screen.
Your choice.

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The KINGMAKER
Makes Every Thing Possible

Stuffs (My Blog)

So you are poiniting out that Apple is a company that lives by exploiting the people who doesnt know much about technology which is unfortunately the majority. I agree...